It says Coolent low even though i put more in? help?

sooks · 08-30-2007, 11:57 PM

So everytime i turn on my car.. it says high coolent (red) for 3 seconds then it switches to low coolent sign. i added coolent a few days ago and it still does this. can anyone help me with this?

Tomas · 08-31-2007, 01:03 AM

If you are speaking of the red/blue lights in the instrument cluster, that is coolant temperature being high or low, not coolant quantity.

The blue light means simply that the engine has not yet reached normal operating temperature.

It is absolutely normal for the blue light to be ON until the vehicle warms up.

See the manual.

surfcitylocal · 08-31-2007, 01:13 AM

Even though I have a full set of gauges now I still dig that little blue thermometer every morning.

Tomas · 08-31-2007, 02:11 AM

Yeah, my ScanGauge II gives me the actual temp within a degree, but I still like the blue light (and I like the red light as a back-up to the temp display).

BoomBox · 08-31-2007, 02:21 AM

Sooks. If it's a red color like you say it is, let's discuss how many miles you have on your car. Well, how many are there?

In the manual, it tells you when to do a radiator flush. I'm not sure of the exact mileage, but on my other cars I usually did it around 50k miles. Also, if you beat the car to death, you may need to change it quicker as the motor is always rushing to get cooler coolant through it.

On that topic, have you mess with the thermostat lately? Sometimes these things go out on cars prematurely, or if you've been in that area and bumped it, you coulda damaged it.....

mntegra01 · 08-31-2007, 04:36 AM

my red light has alwayscome on before the blue one when I start my car up. I think itsa system check, just like srs lights usually come on for a few moments when you first start the car.

Osamu · 08-31-2007, 05:15 AM

^werd

I just assumed it was normal to show the red light for a little while on first start up. At least I know that light is working in case I do ever overheat. My car does that and it only has 500 miles, so I just assume it's normal.

sooks · 08-31-2007, 11:46 AM

wow thanks for all the replies. so basically i just need to wait a while until the blue light goes away and then im ready to go right? on the manual it says i just need to wait 10 seconds to warm up my car but i guess it was wrong? by the way i have 23,000 miles on my car.

Tomas · 08-31-2007, 06:03 PM

You can drive the car no problem with the blue light on - just be a little gentle until it warms up and the light goes off. The manual is correct.

FOr some of the other folks here: ALL of the indicator lights should come on for a short time as part of the system check when the ignition is first turned on, as it says in the manual.

hk1997 · 04-27-2009, 05:55 PM

How harmful is it to drive it hard while the blue is still on?

PCH · 04-27-2009, 06:06 PM

Driving hard is always harmful. The main thing about driving hard when cold is the pistons and cylinder walls are not up to the operating temp and that's when the best piston ring seal is achieved. So they may be allowing more blow-by than normal also lettting more raw gas into the crankcase (bad for oil, bearings and seals).

grizzly_choppers · 04-27-2009, 08:18 PM

Hey Boom, JSYK the Toyota "Super Long Life Coolant" in our cars is designed to run for 150,000 miles before the first flush and 100,000 miles every flush after that. You are certainly able to do it ahead of that time but it isn't required.

-Alex